Dream Chaser Test System Emulates Spacecraft Loads

SAKOR Technologies recently designed and shipped a test system to Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) for testing the atmospheric flight control system of the Dream Chaser spacecraft. Dream Chaser is a lifting-body, reusable, crewed or un-crewed horizontal-landing vehicle. It is owned and operated by Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) and is designed as a space utility vehicle for low-Earth orbit.

Dream Chaser horizontal-landing vehicle.

SwRI selected SAKOR to build a sophisticated system to exercise Dream Chaser’s new control system and simulate flight from atmospheric interface to landing. The system characterizes overall design performance as well as dynamic response to physical forces typically experienced in standard and extreme flight conditions. The Dream Chaser spacecraft features seven control surfaces and the test system features seven dynamometers, each simulating dynamic loads on a specific control surface.

SAKOR’s DynoLAB data acquisition and control system controls the entire test stand, acting as a space craft emulator. Sending test profiles to the atmospheric flight controller as well as simulating force feedback from each control surface, DynoLAB communicates directly with the atmospheric flight control system via MIL-STD-1553B bus, which is a built-in capability of the DynoLAB system.

Sakor’s system for testing the atmospheric flight control system of the Dream Chaser spacecraft.

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